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AndroidOS.in has reported yesterday that Micromax’s first Android phone, the Andro (Yeah, very creative) is all ready for launch. It supposedly sports a 2.8” resistive display, with Android 2.1 and a 3.2 MP camera, and may go on sale for Rs. 9,000.

These specs haven’t been confirmed, but if the device does have a 2.8” resistive display and would be sold for Rs. 9000/-, we’d like to quickly slap on a “Do Not Buy” sticker on this phone, and impatiently point you in the direction of the similarly priced, but more capable offering from Spice. Or even point you in the direction of slightly costlier handsets from other manufacturers… and that recently released LG combatant. The sole reason being the screen resolution – which has to be QVGA (Quarter VGA – 240x320). The QVGA resolution just doesn’t cut it for an Android phone. It doesn’t. Seriously, say it inside your heads three times, if you will – QVGA doesn’t cut it for an Android phone.

There are only two exceptions that we can currently see – the upcoming Huawei Ideos, which would have a QVGA resolution but be priced at around Rs. 5,000 – Rs. 6,000/- would be awesome value-for-money for people looking to get into the smartphone game with a minimal budget. And of course, phones such as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro or the Motorola Flipout or the Motorola Charm. These phones come with a QVGA-resolution display, but also come with a keyboard, which should make typing on the phone, easier. We seriously would recommend any lady out there with a Rs. 15,000/- budget, who doesn’t need a very high-end phone, to take a look the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro – it’s got a great cam, and it has the hardware keyboard to make up for the small screen size. Apart from these two reasons, we don’t see why QVGA resolutions should be encouraged at all. Don’t even get us started on the resistive touchscreen…

Oh, and while we’re about it, we don’t we go around sticking this “Do Not Buy” sticker on some other QVGA Android phones out there? Such as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini, Samsung Galaxy 5, the HTC Wildfire, the Samsung Galaxy 3 (it’s only a slight modification over QVGA, not the HVGA-resolution we all desire), the HTC Tattoo (if that’s still on the market!) and any other Android phone out there that’s got a 240x320 display. Our final word : Unless specifically required for you (perhaps due to budget, or the non-need for more capable phones) do not settle for an Android phone that has anything less than an HVGA (320x480) display.

Regarding the launch date of the Huawei U8150 Ideos mobile phone in India, we have no information regarding this, at the moment. When it does launch, it would definitely be a better bet than Micromax's Andro, since the Huawei Ideos comes with Android 2.2 and a capacitive touchscreen.

If you can hike up your budget by a few more thousands, we suggest that you consider the Spice Mi-300; the HVGA (320x480) screen size has become an unofficial requirement to fully enjoy all of Android's goodness. Just our opinion!

thanks for the reply. i had a look on Spice Spice Mi-300 but it doesn't suit my budget at this point. for now - its about 6k - 7k and explicitly android!I guess ideos is released since its already available on ebay, but not at the price huawei promised back a few months.

Hmmm... For your budget, there's not much choice. But we would still say that you take a look at Samsung's Galaxy 5, and see if that could fit into your budget. It's better than Micromax's Andro - capacitive touchscreen and better build quality. The resistive touchscreen on the Andro is really horrible.